Most people don’t PR (personal record) the marathon at Boston. Most people don’t PR the marathon at age 50. I’m not most people.
Running is 90% mental. The other 10% is mental. I’d been mentally preparing for yesterday’s Boston Marathon since November 5, 2023. My friend, Matt Fletcher and I had a conversation on the First Street bridge after the Run for the Water race in Austin. He was there supporting NXP team runners. I was there supporting ARC runners.
“How did you run sub-3 at Boston? What’s the trick?”
“You train your f**king ass off.”
And that’s all it took. He knew that I knew what that meant.
And instead of setting a goal of 2:59 at a future Boston Marathon, I decided I would attempt to PR the marathon at a future Boston Marathon. That would mean faster than 2:56:45, which I’d set in Houston (a very flat course) in 2020. 2:55 sounded like a good, round number, so that’s the time that I stamped into my brain.
But I also needed to run a qualifying race that would get me into a Boston Marathon. So I decided I would run a race that would qualify me to get into the NYC Marathon, which is actually harder to get into by way of qualification than Boston.
I qualified for the 2024 NYC Marathon. That race would become my Boston qualifier by design. I am very diligent and disciplined in my training. I trained very specifically for NYC. The goal was 3:10. That would get me a 15 minute buffer (by Boston qualifying standards that year). I trained to run a 3:10. I trained to be strong in the later miles of the race. Running 26 miles is hard. Running the last 8 miles of a marathon is really, really hard. The NYC marathon has a lot of bridges, and each bridge is a hill. I trained for late mile hills.
I ran a 3:04 at NYC. Six minutes faster than planned. I was feeling good and punchy that day, especially at mile 17. That qualified me for the 2026 Boston Marathon.
I started mentally training for Boston in November of 2024. I started physically training, in earnest, with a periodized training plan for Boston in November of 2025.
I changed my training approach and methodology. Workouts were longer and harder. I built in five peak weeks (weeks that have a hard workout on Tuesday and Thursday and culminate with a 20+ mile run on Sunday) instead of the usual three weeks. Much to the chagrin of most coaches, I omitted strength training and focused only on running. I ran doubles on Wednesdays, which means I’d run early in the morning, go to work, and then run right after I got home with <12 hours of recovery. I ran a lot of hills. I made the hard days hard and the easy days easy. Emphasis on the easy days. A lot of run training means easy, slow running. I ran more with my run club, and I always ran with the back-of-the-packers. The slower the better. And when they’d get discouraged or feel bad for slowing me down, I’d remind them that they were doing me a favor, and they were learning how to run, and that they’d look back on these days and remember when they used to run “slow.” That’s how we all start, and it’s the most exciting and fun part of beginning the running journey. Running’s a long game. You can’t rush anything. It takes persistence and consistency. And lastly, I ran more. I introduced a lot of volume. Lots and lots of weekly and cumulative mileage to the point where I was teetering on overtraining. It was a very fine line. I’m still thanking my lucky stars that I somehow staved off an injury.
I mentally prepared to PR the marathon at Boston. Knowledge of the race helps. Boston has kicked my ass 4 times before. The first 15 miles are fast and downhill or flat. There are hills between miles 16-21. That’s the worst place to have hills in a marathon. I broke the marathon up into three sections:
Miles 1 – 15: Calm and Controlled. Stay steady at 6:40-6:45 pace. Don’t get cocky. Don’t go out with the over-enthused.
Miles 16 – 21: Cool the jets. Drop the pace to get through the hills. Stay in control and just do the work to get up and over the 4 hills. Maintain good form and posture and run at a consistent effort. That means that I could slow down, but focus on my breath and be mindful of how my whole body felt. Keep that rate of perceived effort the same as the previous 16 miles. It’s okay to slow down. When I got to the top of the hill, I’d let myself ease back into the right pace and not rush into making up for any lost time when I was working the uphills.
Miles 21-26: Steady and strong. Steady meaning settle back into a 6:40 pace. Strong meaning push hard. Push through any pain or discomfort and start emptying the tank. I’d remind myself that I trained hard for this and I only have one shot.
I stuck to my plan. And it worked. I have a few friends who were being punchy on my behalf. One predicted a 2:52. Another asked for a 2:50. I secretly maintained a stretch goal of 2:51 if I was feeling punchy yesterday morning. I wasn’t feeling punchy yesterday morning because of nerves and less-than-ideal sleep the night before. I decided to stay strict and disciplined. 2:55 was the goal. I’d trained to run 2:55.
My plan came together flawlessly. I experienced some anxiety coming into mile 16. I was already fatigued and I had the Newton hills to get through. But I reminded myself that I’d trained my f**king ass off, and I just did the work to get up and over the hills. And I gutted it out the last 5 miles. I executed exactly how I’d wanted to and this year’s Boston Marathon is probably my best and proudest marathon.
I ran a 2:55:11. I saw Elise standing at the front of a crowded barricade on Boyleston just after Gloucester. That was the highlight of those hard-fought previous 25.8 miles. I saw her smile. That’s all I needed. She knew I’d done it. I knew I’d done it. I pointed to her and smiled as big of a smile as I could muster and I mouthed “I love you,” and then I started sprinting.
Unless you run the tangents, the Boston Marathon can be a little long. I ran 26.37 miles in 2:55:11. I ran 26.2 miles in 2:54:25. I beat my A Goal by 45 seconds. That can be a lifetime in the marathon.
I remember when I was in 9th grade my dad told me, “you have to want it more than anything.” The “it” at the time is irrelevant (it was making the football team). The it now, whatever it is, is always relevant.
I finally beat Boston. I wanted it and I worked hard to get it. I’m thankful and very happy.